In 2015, according to its leaders, the
agency continued to push itself creatively
through many high-profile multichannel
efforts, including broadcast, print, digital, and social. The agency’s commitment
to producing great work has resulted in
being among the most awarded in the
industry, with accolades including Clio,
ECHO, Effie, and MM&M.

Executives say there is no question that
CDMiConnect’s consistent approach to
“Putting Patients First” made for a very
successful year. According to agency leaders, it’s CDMiConnect’s unique approach
to prioritizing patient insights that creates highly productive conversations with
HCPs and moves the needle for brands.
Eighty percent of CDMi’s work comes
from agency-of-record assignments. And
today, 70 percent of total business is digital, including social media.

In 2015, CDMiConnect continued to reinforce its commitment to current clients
while adding additional brands, agency
executives say. Social media and emerging technology programs were hot for the
agency, and CDMiConnect continued to
deepen its expertise. The agency had tremendous success creating conversations,
and one campaign alone exceeded Facebook norms by 30 times.

“We are always driven to do amazing
work for our clients. But the purpose of
the work runs deep for every one of us because we do it on behalf of patients,” says
Tom Galati, creative director.

According to agency leaders, CDMi-Connect also launched some impres-sive firsts for the industry including thefirst-ever DTC spot for a multiple sclero-sis medication and introducing Wallet toclients for co-pay assistance.

The Health Work joint venture with BBDO
also continued to be productive for CDMiConnect as it worked to change breast cancer
mortality in a regionally targeted initiative.

Agency leaders say they remained focused on their vision of Putting Patients
First. In 2014, CDMiConnect fielded its
own study of 3,000 patients across 200
disease states. And in 2015 the agency went
even deeper with Patients First: Perspectives, where the team interviewed key patient and healthcare change leaders. This
content was brought to clients and pushed
out via the agency’s social media channels.

“We are deeply committed to makinga difference in patients’ lives,” says DebDeaver, CDMiConnect president. “We in-vest in the patient and are committed tobeing on the healthcare journey with them;we are always looking to create opportuni-ties to learn, share, and self-advocate.”In a year when brands were looking formore and more efficiencies, CDMiConnectdelivered, executives say. “Last year was atight budgeting year for CDMiConnect andmany of our clients,” says Eliot Tyler, direc-tor of client services. “Fortunately, the focuson costs has created an environment wherewe can work with clients to find innovativestaffing and execution strategies that deliv-er impactful work more efficiently. In thisenvironment, we have to be just as innova-tive in our approach to delivering the workas we are about the creative product.”The agency’s EDG (Emerging DigitalGroup) continues to be a huge asset, exec-utives say. The EDG is a cross-disciplineteam of digital strategists, creative technol-ogists, UX gurus, digital designers, and an-alytics mavens.Through experimentation, research,and thought leadership, this team en-sures that CDMiConnect is identifyingand seizing emerging trends and oppor-tunities for brands, executives say.“Pharma can be a hard place to breakthrough the digital stratosphere,” saysDina Peck, executive creative director.“But more and more of our clients arecoming to us to get educated, and oncethey are fluent in the digital space, theyare willing to break digital pharma normsto create work that’s based on patient in-sights and behaviors, not on limitations.”

The EDG also works to provide training,
trending, strategy, and digital know-how
to clients, and also leads client Innovation
Days, Shark Tanks, and Hackathons.

CDMiConnect is led by Deaver. Strategic and client services are led by Tyler,
who is also managing partner. Creative is
overseen by Peck, who is also a managing
partner, and by Galati, who is an associate partner. John Deely leads the agency’s
Emerging Digital Group as senior VP, director of digital experience.

As a full-service agency, while CDMiConnect continues to be deeply dedicated
to patients, it also has a unique approach
to HCP work, using patient insights to
generate conversations and action on
both sides. CDMiConnect’s services include DTC advertising, relationship marketing, social marketing, patient adherence programs, and branding. According
to executives, the agency also has a unique
approach to multicultural marketing for
healthcare brands. The agency has developed industry-leading expertise in web
development, usability, mobile apps, and
social media. Strategic services include
strategic planning, analytic intelligence,
channel planning, and social listening.

According to its leaders, CDMiConnectwill continue to pioneer new technologyand drive invention on behalf of clients.“With the healthcare dynamic approach-ing its tipping point, the agency will con-tinue to be on the forefront of inventingand testing new technologies that trulyput patients first,” executives say. “Newpartnerships with Google, Apple, andIBM Watson are opening up opportuni-ties for clients to go ‘beyond the device’and into new, data-driven initiatives thattruly impact patient outcomes.”

CDMiConnect will be launching a
unique media offering that taps into
ways to reach patients not yet on the
radar of the traditional media agencies.
“Advocacy, EHR, payers, pharmacies,
and many others provide channels that
directly touch our patients, but rarely
have they been a focus of our clients,”
Tyler says. “We plan to bring these new
channels to our clients to give them a
targeted reach that they have not been
able to achieve before.”

CDMiConnect is just as passionate about
putting community ;rst, executives say.
Every staffer is given a “Good Works Day”
to use for a meaningful charitable cause.
In 2015 a group of CDMiers spent a day
at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore.
The agency also started a global, social
outreach program to bring eye care to
Tanzania in the summer of 2016.

“It’s wonderful to help people right
here, but it’s rather special to impact
those who have very little across the
globe,” Peck says. “It’s part of the agency’s culture to give back. And it’s even
more special when the cause is to help
patients.” medadnews